The Ohio State Buckeyes are welcoming back a true legend of the program to campus for their week one game against the Ball State Cardinals.
Ohio State is getting the 2026 season off with a bang on Saturday against the Ball State Cardinals. Not only are they going to do Senior Day before kickoff, but they are also going to honor a legend prior to kickoff.
Last year, Ohio State introduced the Victory Bell to its stadium, and it was one of the best additions that they made. At each home game, before kickoff, a legend of the Buckeye program would get the opportunity to ring the victory bell ahead of kickoff.
Legends such as John Cooper, Jim Tressel, Urban Meyer, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba have all gotten their opportunity to lead the Buckeyes onto the field.
The 2026 season will get underway with Maurice Clarett ringing the Victory Bell for week one against the Ball State Cardinals.
Clarett is one of the great Buckeyes of the early 2000s. It is hard to imagine the Ohio State National Championship team from 2003 without thinking about No. 13.
Clarett's single season at Ohio State was one of the greatest of all time, capped by one of the greatest plays ever in the history of the program.
His freshman year finished with 1,237 yards on 222 carries and 16 touchdowns on the ground. In that National Championship game against Miami, he finished with just 47 yards on 23 carries but two critical touchdowns to push the Buckeyes over the top.
However, the play that he is remembered most for is when he got the best of the late, great Sean Taylor.
Taylor intercepted quarterback Craig Krenzel in the Miami end zone and was looking to take the interception all the way back for a touchdown. Not only did Clarett chase him down, but when tackling him, he stripped the ball out of his arms and retained possession for the Buckeyes.
Clarett's career went sideways, but that one year in Columbus was good enough that he is one of the most influential Buckeyes in the history of the program.
Now, for the 2026 team, he is the one who gets to lead them out into the season. It will already be an amazing atmosphere inside Ohio Stadium on Saturday, and this will just add to it.
Clarett becomes the ninth former Buckeye to ring the bell to bring the Buckeyes onto the field. It has been a mix of football legends and basketball legends, but it will only continue to grow.
Ohio State nailed this pregame tradition and Maurice Clarett is the perfect person to get the 2026 season off and running.
